Abstract
Sept. 8, 1900. Galveston Hurricane.—The hurricane of Sept. 1–12, 1900, is described as the most severe storm which ever occurred in the United States. After travelling westward south of Haiti, it curved to the north across Cuba and nearly to Florida. There it turned again to the west-north-west, and growing in intensity, struck the coast of the United States near Galveston on Sept. 8, after which it passed inland and rapidly broke up. Galveston is built on a low sandy island about thirty miles in length and two to three miles in width, and the city was completely wrecked. The anemometer recorded a velocity of 100 miles an hour when it was blown away at 2 P.M., but the velocity increased steadily until 8 P.M., at which time the corrected barometer reading was 963 mb. (28–44 in.). The storm raised the level of the sea by 15–20 feet, arid the whole island was flooded. Nearly half the houses were completely destroyed by wind and sea, more than 6000 people were killed, and property to the extent of 30 million dollars was lost. Enormous losses of life and property were also reported from the coast of the mainland, but owing to the Weather Bureau warnings, only two ships were lost.
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Historic Natural Events. Nature 126, 385–386 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1038/126385b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/126385b0